Remco Evenepoel has put an finish to the limitless switch hypothesis linking him with a transfer away from Soudal Fast-Step on the finish of the 2024 season.
Evenepoel has been often linked to a attainable change to the German workforce Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, which can also be sponsored by Specialised, Evenepoel’s bike sponsors. Nevertheless, Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported late on Thursday that any attainable transfer was lifeless within the water.
Talking forward of the elite males’s street race on the World Championships in Zurich, Evenepoel confirmed himself that he’ll stick with Fast-Step subsequent 12 months and brushed away options {that a} change was genuinely on the playing cards.
“I am going to keep the place I’m, that is fairly clear,” he mentioned. “No transfers.”
Evenepoel is tied to Patrick Lefevere’s workforce till 2026, though his fixed stream of high-profile outcomes has meant that he has always been linked with strikes elsewhere.
Ineos Grenadiers tried to signal Evenepoel as a junior and had been mentioned to be exploring methods to accumulate the Belgian’s providers within the autumn of 2022. Formal conferences to discover a attainable switch had been reported to have taken place between Evenepoel, his father who acts as his agent, and workforce representatives. However Ineos failed of their makes an attempt to entice the now double Olympic champion away from his present workforce.
The Ineos hyperlinks continued in 2023 with Evenepoel being pressured to brush away questions relating to his future on the Glasgow worlds final August. Pink Bull approaching board at Bora-Hansgrohe earlier this 12 months meant that the German WorldTour giants had been the following workforce to be closely linked with Evenepoel transferring into 2025.
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In accordance with a report from Cyclingnews, Evenepoel dismissed the hyperlinks on Friday and re emphasised his dedication to Soudal Fast-Step.
“I feel some info was greater than I knew myself, which was fairly humorous to listen to, however nothing adjustments,” Evenepoel mentioned.
“I am going to stick with my [Soudal Quick-Step] teammates. We’ll work and struggle for the most important objective, that’s to in the future win the Tour de France.”
Evenepoel made his debut on the Tour de France this summer season, securing third general, a stage win and one of the best younger rider’s classification.
A lot of the discourse previous to Sunday’s worlds street race has centred on Tadej Pogačar’s try to change into solely the third man to assert biking’s triple-crown – the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and street world title in the identical season. Solely Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche have claimed the hallowed prize earlier than him.
The Slovenian dominated the current Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, his last race earlier than heading to Zurich, and is the outright favorite to assert the rainbow jersey, however Evenepoel is just not too far behind.
Pogačar now stands on the cusp of historical past, though Evenepoel has his personal monumental achievement inside attain. He gained the street world title in 2022 in Australia, but when he reclaims the rainbow jersey on Sunday he might change into the primary man to finish a historic Olympic and World Championships quadruple in the identical season.
He has already efficiently defended the time trial world title that he gained in Scotland and has two Olympic medals in his assortment. One other gold medal on Sunday would full a vastly profitable and historic 12 months for the 24-year-old Belgian.
